On 2002-11-01 20:51, chicagokitesurfer wrote:Do you guys have any definite information on these companies?

"loose"?

I got yesterday German King Kitesnowboard (157 cm). It looks like typical freestyle snowboard with medium flex. Symmetrical twintip with short tail and tip and "maximum" effective edge. Ready for 4x4 bindings.

So nothing special but OK board for snow kiteboarding. Board with "Kiteboarding" text might be "cool" on the slopes It is $200 here in Finland WITHOUT bindings.

So VESKU....are you telling us that you bought what is supposed to be a kite specific snowboard and you see no differences in it than in a regular snowboard?

Answer me this. How's these work for you guys? Seems to me like a snowboard is designed to carve turns when you lean on them, and I would think when snowkiting that you would need to be able to lean back onto the edge without the board wanting to turn so much. GRANTED, i have never snowkited before, this is why i ask these questions.

Kitesnowboarding is a very broad term for the sport that we all do. You use a kite to drag you on deep snow, slash, icy or what ever conditions. Like on the slopes when the conditions vary you prefer different boards.

Generally speaking, you can use what ever board for kitesnowboarding. But like you said, if you prefer to take long rides without jumping, jibing etc. then you will prefer a board that is longer and doesn't have lots of sidecut (straight edges).

Normally I (178cm/75kg) use 170 cm, "rather stiff", freeride snowboard with step-in bindings. But kitesnowboarding with a short board (150-160cm) is fun too. It is better for jumps and tricks because you rotate faster. On deep snow you prefer a long nose of board that floats the board better. On icy conditions you want to edge hard and prefer stiffy board and even hard boots.

I ride with a kite like I ride on the mountains. I prefer to have freeride stance (24 degrees front, 6 degrees back) and not a duck stance where your back feet has negative angle. For freestyle I turn sometimes my back binding to negative (-6 degrees back).

Of course if you use a symmetrical twintip board then it is easy to ride both directions like on the water. Otherwise the feeling is more like riding with a "mutant" type of board on the water. But I like that too!

Conclusion: Try different boards and binding setups. You don't have to buy any "special equipments" for kitesnowboarding. You can start with your good old board. Just have fun!

As I stated before, I might disagree with the opinion that you can use any snowboard. While this might be the case in powder, my experience riding hardpacked snow, suggests that "standard" snowboards are not real suited for snowkiting. When you put the board on edge, which is how you will be riding the majority of the time, the board flexes and creates an arc ( due to the sidecut, else the midsection would be off the surface). Which is great when you are blasting down a hill cause that means you're carving. But with kiting we want to go somewhat straight. When the board forms this arc and you force it to go straight, the tips and tail are essentially dragging.
There are a few who ride with their feet facing forward on the board though your body really has to twist weird to make this work, especially toeside.
Stiffness does play a role as does length, as the last poster suggests, though I think not as much as the amount of sidecut.
I've seen a board by Eskape that looks to fit the bill pretty close. Asymetrical side to side, heelside minimal sidecut, unique tips for ripping through powder. Fanatic also has one, though it is questionable whether we'll see these in the states.
The market is ripe for the taking. Whoever is first to market, can gorge on market share. Small now though definately going to grow.

I don't mean this to be a flame...but kite specific snowboards.....blahhhh...just a way to leach more money out of you.

What causes a snowboard to carve a tight rail is the camber in the board. If I put my board on edge either downhill or being pulled I can ride a relatively straight line (try it on a t bar and you will see what a mean)....

So if you want to go on edge will minimal arc depressure your edge....turn radius is related to edge pressure.

While sidecut does create the base radius for this you can vary your turn radius simply by changing edge pressure.

While I have not tried a kite specific board I am almost sure the rideability of them is almost no different than a regular snowboard. To enjoy kite snowboarding and track straight lines you have to be a compotent carver...being a snowboard instructor and seeing the sport develop I know that the number of people on twin tips that actually now how to properly rail a board is rather minimal. (i.e most people that think they are carving still intiate the turn from through back foot therefore cause the board to slide off edge instead of railing). Learn to steer off your front foot, balance on an edge, and control the pressure on that edge. I think your time would better be spent doing this than shopping for the latest and greatest kite specific snowboard....

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